Archive for the ‘Bar mitzvahs’ Category

Last weekend I photographed Sari’s Bat Mitzvah, which was special for me because I photographed her older brother Josh’s Bar Mitzvah. This is the first year I’ve worked with siblings, and it’s great to watch families change and grow.

Sari and her family had the service at Park Avenue Synagogue, and their celebration at the W Hotel in Union Square. Special thanks to Donna, Mike and Meghan at the W, as well as Ava and the crew at Shine Events, for helping to put together a great night. Highlights include Sari’s custom Chucks, a customized photo booth provided by Shine, mini cones of Friendly’s ice cream for dessert, and Sari’s choreographed dance at the end of the night.

Happy spring! It’s been a while since my last post, so I have a lot of photos (a year’s worth!) of photos to share. The set I’m sharing today is about Kate, who became a bat mitzvah last year on a snowy day in January. You wouldn’t know it from the photos – her celebration, held at the Yale Club, was Fire Island themed. (Special thanks to Dari from the Yale Club and Matt from Shine Events for being a pleasure to work with.)

First, though, here’s a few of my favorite photos from their family portrait session in Central Park the autumn before. In her infinite wisdom, Kate’s mom, Alissa, picked the best time of year for photos in the park. The leaves!

Even though I gave myself extra time to get to the Yale Club because of all the snow, when my second photographer Tara and I walked into the space, we wished we had arrived a whole hour earlier. I had known beforehand that Kate’s grandmother lovingly designed and made by hand all the Fire Island themed decor for the party, but to see it in person was something else. We rushed around trying to capture all the thoughtful details.

For example, guests could write Kate messages on vintage postcards. For place cards, each guest picked their name out of a board titled “Meet Me At…” with the name of a different location (like “Beach,” “Library,” even “Dr’s Office”), which matched each table’s unique centerpiece. There’s much more, but my favorite was the framed portraits representing family members, including grandparents and great grandparents, who were celebrating in spirit.

I could write a whole blog post just about the decor (maybe someday I will), but for now enjoy this handful of images. I hope we did them justice.

The celebration for this lovely family included a horah,a candle lighting and blowout,games,a sweet father and daughter dance,lots of hugs,an old fashioned photo booth,and a happy Kate surrounded by family and friends.
Feel free to check out the video of Kate’s Bat mitzvah here:

Hi everyone! Hope your spring has been full of lying in the grass, working in the yard, beers on the front stoop while airing out your toes. I’ve got some good photo blogging coming up, but in the meantime, for something a little different…

I know that when you first sit down to think about planning a wedding or a bar mitzvah, it can be a little (or a lot) overwhelming. So I thought, why not interview someone who does this all the time, an expert if you will, and pass the advice on to you?

A few months ago I had the opportunity to talk to Ava Conoval, who works as the director of event coordination at an entertainment company. For those who don’t know, in the event industry an entertainment company is a one-stop shop for all things entertainment-related at a party, such as DJs, MCs, dancers, live music, lighting, multimedia, photo booths, gaming and other activities.

Here are Ava’s answers to the top three questions clients have about working with an entertainment company.

- 1. What should I splurge on, and what should I cut back on?

Invest in something that will transform a space and give it energy. Lighting, for example, changes the ambiance of a room in a heartbeat. You could also invest in something that will create an interactive experience for the guests, such as plasma screens that display zap shot photos & live simulcast of the event.

A party should be entertaining; it should encompass the right combination of entertainment elements that will naturally draw people together. We want to bring them into a space that makes them feel welcome and excited! Therefore, it is important to invest in the items that will make this happen.

Most importantly, you want the various elements of your party to complement your personal style! For brides and grooms, it is important to create a feeling in a space that is true to who you are; it should be a reflection of your two personalities as well as your individuality.

The same applies for Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs; you want all of the entertainment elements to complement your child’s personality as well as complement the dance floor (not compete against it). Talk to your child about what they envision for their party. Your entertainment provider can then guide you in the right direction of which activities and entertainment items will best suit your child’s personality (or the bride and groom’s personality), the crowd that is attending your celebration, and the space in which you are having your event.

- 2. What should I look for in an entertainment company?

First and foremost, look for a great MC whose style you like. The MC and DJ set the tone of the party, and when done right, they help people loosen up and have a great time. A great MC/DJ team can elevate a dance floor to the next level, and as a result, can turn a mediocre event into an incredible, memorable one.

Second, your contact at the entertainment company you hire for your event should be someone you feel comfortable working with long-term, since often planning a party begins a year in advance. Great service doesn’t start when your party starts; it starts when you start planning. So be sure to select a company that is focused on service and details, and can walk you through the entire planning process.

You should feel comfortable calling him or her up to ask questions. Creativity is key! He or she should listen to your thoughts and ideas, and then expand on them to turn your vision into a reality. He or she should guide you – not push you – in the right direction, by offering you great entertainers and entertainment options that suit your taste and your budget.

Third, if you are not working with a party planner, ask your entertainment company if they have event coordinators to be on site during the event. This can give you the comfort you need to know that all of the entertainment elements will be seamless, so that you can relax and enjoy the party you worked so hard to put together!

Finally, find someone whose business model you love. There are big name companies that do 20 events per weekend, there are boutique companies that focus on very personal attention and customizing the event to be as unique as the client who is hosting it, and then there is everything in between. Find what’s right for you.

And, of course, any great company will give you great references from past clients.

– 3. What should I avoid at all costs?

Avoid hiring a different company for every aspect of the event. There ends up being too many moving parts on the day of the event. Instead, hire one entertainment company who can provide all of the entertainment elements for you, as well as can recommend other vendors (ex: photographers, florists, decorators, venues) who provide the same level of quality customer service. As a result, you will have a seamless experience on the day of the event, rather than one that feels disjointed & fragmented.

A great entertainment company will make you feel like you are well taken care of from the very first phone call. We are here to make your planning experience as simple and as fun as possible, so let us help you plan the best possible event for you and your family!

Ava Conoval is the Director of Event Coordination at Shine Events, Inc., a boutique entertainment company, located in West Nyack, NY, that provides entertainment for events throughout the tri-state region. She has 10 years of experience in the event industry, and she says she loves how each and every event feels like she is producing a performance. She enjoys the challenge and satisfaction of putting together different entertainment components for each event, to make it a memorable, unique experience for each of her clients.

Since my last post, the 2010-2011 bar mitzvah season has come and gone. Before my blog fills up with images from this summer’s weddings and travels, I’ll update you on the bar mitzvahs I had the privilege of photographing. Instead of event by event posts, though, I’m trying something new.

As usual, I can only write about winter from the safety of a warm summer day. But I will say now, sitting in shorts and a tank top, that the snow did look pretty by the entrance of Shaaray Tefila on that morning in January. And I can admit, after a lengthy string of June-green days, that there’s something wonderful about waiting for those bare branches to show their first buds.

Way back in 2010, after a morning service and kiddush at Temple Israel, and hair and makeup appointments on the Upper East Side, Jessica blew out the candle on her three-tiered cake designed by her mom, surrounded by all her friends and family at Crimson. The cake matched the turquoise, fuchsia and orange colors that were the theme of the night.

And in between the dancing, photo booth picture taking, and airbrushed art making was my favorite moment of the night – after the speeches (including a poem) and the toasts, when Matthew, the smallest member of the Lipton family, sweetly introduced the night’s ‘future presentation.’ Sweeter even than the chocolate fountain at the dessert table, and the cookies, brownies and hot chocolate that ended the night.

What a fun day. First, let me just say that the mother and son dance was the most touching I’ve ever photographed. And then we had: Zack rapping and breakdancing, his sister Sydney doing backbends on the dance floor, their dad Andrew singing into the mic with his friends, and their mom Melissa whirling around in her beautiful dress.

The party took place at the Bohemian National Hall, a newly renovated space that hosts New York’s Czech cultural center. The interior is modern, playful, thoughtfully designed, and a pleasure to photograph.

A big hug to Ava and everyone at Shine Events who made the day run so smoothly, especially photography wise – definitely look them up if you’re planning a party.

Congratulations to Zack and his family, and thanks for being awesome! Check out the slideshow below.

Hey everyone! So, this blog entry started off as a photo post for Zack’s bar mitzvah. But because it’s winter and because it’s the end of the year, and that means more thinking time, this quickly took some detours and turned into something else and so I’m putting this up first.

Here’s how it started: I was remembering when I met Melissa, Zack’s mom, for the first time to talk about photography for Zack’s bar mitzvah. She was just so likable from the moment I met her. And then over our lunches in a diner booth (sitting in big diner booths, by the way, totally a bonus for a client meeting) she was describing to me how she’d been making all of her event planning decisions: “When it’s right, you just know.” I loved her instantly. I thought, with a mom like that, this family’s got to be awesome – and I was right.

In the past few years I’ve found myself working closely with families as more of my photography involves big life celebrations like weddings and bar mitzvahs. It’s great because, really, many of us just know one family really well (the one we were born into) – but from working with a family for even half an hour, I get a glimpse into their home life, the way they express their love to each other, and their priorities and values. The most fulfilling moments in my work have little to do with photography – when I meet a family that I’m so glad exists, a warm little nest that lights up the world, that inspires me to give more love wherever I go and to call my parents more often just to say hi.

I think a lot about the line “You become a better photographer as you become a better person.” But I think it works the other way around too, so a big thank you to all the wonderful clients, now friends, I’ve met over the years through my photography work who have inspired me by loving their families and friends easily and abundantly, by having their priorities straight, and by just being themselves.

Ethan and Allison are a year and a half apart, and they held a joint b’nai mitzvah earlier this month. It’s a little unusual, but it’s a lovely statement of the family’s closeness with one another, which I got a glimpse of when we went to Central Park in September for their family portrait session.

They had the service in the beautiful and modern temple inside Hebrew Union College on W 4th st, and then all the guests walked straight over to Manhattan Penthouse, an open and sunny venue with city skyline views all around.

So much loving thought went into the Noah’s ark theme – the rainbow colors of the Hebrew Union College temple and the Krugs’ dress clothes, and the lollipop trees and animal table cards, were all tied together by the edible table centerpieces: cakes made by Sonia Riviera that showed the earth, the ark, a rainbow and a different animal silhouette for each table. And the take home party favor: umbrellas! The detail I liked most, though, was a pair of framed portraits at the guestbook table, done by Ethan and Allison’s own grandfather.